WASHINGTON — President Trump railed Tuesday against NATO allies that refused to allow the US to use their bases to attack Iran, declaring he was going to “cut off all trade with Spain” and denouncing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as “no Winston Churchill.”
Trump became visibly angry during his sitdown with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, spending several minutes blasting America’s European allies and arguing that they don’t spend enough on defense.
He also had harsh words for Starmer, showing a strain in his relationship with the United Kingdom.
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“Spain has been terrible,” President Trump said. “Spain actually said that we can’t use their bases.” Pictured with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. via REUTERS
“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” Trump said of the Labour prime minister.
The two leaders have been exchanging harsh words since Starmer denied Trump permission to use UK military bases in the first wave of attacks on Iran Saturday.
And the prime minister denounced the bombardment in his House of Commons on Monday in a speech being called his “Love Actually” moment, referring to a scene in the movie where the British PM, played by Hugh Grant, stood up to a bullying American president.
“This government does not believe in regime change from the skies,” Starmer declared. “It is my duty to judge what is in Britain’s national interest. That is what I have done. And I stand by it.”
Some professed shock at Starmer’s words, given his previously cozy relationship with Trump, including arranging a lavish state visit with a white-tie dinner hosted by the King at Windsor Castle. But others praised the prime minister, whose government is on the brink of losing re-election due to the high cost-of-living in Britain and other scandals involving the late sex predator, Jeffrey Epstein.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke out against the military action in Iran during a speech at the House of Commons on March 2, 2026. PRU/AFP via Getty Images
“I am no fan of Keir Starmer,” British commentator James Melville wrote on social media. “But if he stands up to Trump & prevents the UK from entering into another potentially disastrous military conflict in the Middle East, he will gain respect for that.”
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Starmer and Trump talk often, a source familiar told The Post, adding they spoke on the phone several times over the past week.
Still, Trump’s words were a punch in the gut to Anglo-American relations.
President Donald Trump meets with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday. Getty Images
Trump announced the US is going to “cut off all trade with Spain” over Madrid’s lack of support for the attack on Iran. Getty Images
“I think the relationship is at its lowest point in recent history — probably have to go back to when Reagan invaded Grenada without giving Thatcher a heads up,” Lew Lukens, senior partner with Signum Global Advisors and former acting-Ambassador at the US embassy in London, told The Post.
Still he doesn’t think that “Trump will actually retaliate.”
“At the end of the day, the US needs UK defense cooperation and intelligence support as it carries out its strikes against Iran,” he pointed out.